A brick walkway behind the Golden Gate Bridge visitors' center, laid in 1987 to mark the bridge's 50th anniversary and paid for by donors — some of whom had the names of dead loved ones inscribed on them — is getting torn out by the bridge authority before the bridge's 75th anniversary celebrations in May. The reason: The walkway is not ADA compliant (it's a little too steep), and it was installed just three years before the ADA regulations were put in place in 1990. more ›

We have a mid-80s sitcom zinger for you here about having AIDS, delivered by a child (the delivery could have used a little more rehearsal, we think). This was probably a real uncomfortable sort of laugh, even back in the day, and now it's even weirder! (To the show's credit, they were trying to drum up sympathy for a Ryan White-type of character, an angelic innocent touched by an ugly disease through no fault of his own.) A mere week after World AIDS Day, no less. [via Laughing Squid] more ›

It's World AIDS Day everyone! Therefore you should be putting on a condom right now and/or trying to combat HIV in the streets or the laboratory! In lieu of that, you may watch this trailer for We Were Here, the very moving documentary released earlier this year about the early days of AIDS in San Francisco. And we should give three cheers for director David Weissman and co-director Bill Weber because this week the film was shortlisted for consideration in this year's Oscar category for Best Documentary. more ›

Zachary Runningwolf, the Occupy Oakland tree camper, burns sage after erecting a teepee on the North side of the plaza to honor Sioux Indians, homeless workers and AIDS activists. more ›

Hip Hop video blog VladTV has posted a video [embedded below] in which rapper The Game is asked about his feelings on gays in the entertainment business. "Game don't have a problem with gay people," he says, speaking in the third person. Rather, "Game has a problem with people that are pretending not to be gay that are gay." And why is that? Because according to (ahem) The Game, the out and proud ones aren't the ones spreading AIDS. Intriguing! Go on, Mr. The Game: more ›

Before it turned into lazy comedians' anti-gay punchline at bad comedy clubs across the country, HIV/AIDS continues to kill scores of people all over the world. But it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, many people now live healthy and long lives thanks in part to the wonders of pricey medicine by greedy drug manufactures. That said, today is National HIV Testing Day. So, come on, get tested already! It doesn't hurt -- the swabs are nothing but gentle glides! -- and it's a super smart and respectful thing to do if you and your partner haven't done so already. more ›

After heading out to play in the Civic Center during the Gay Pride festivities and Gay Inc.-related parties and whatnot, be sure to check out Life Before the Lifeboat on KQED. Airing this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. It will be well worth your time as you comedown from your Corona-induced high. more ›

On Sunday, May 22, San Francisco will mark the 30th anniversary of when the first AIDS case was reported in the city. To reflect on the occasion, Twin Peaks will don a giant red ribbon, similar the pink triangle seen each Pride weekend. BAR reports: "San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO Neil Giuliano, Supervisor Scott Weiner, volunteers, and others will gather Sunday, May 22 at Twin Peaks Viewpoint. Installation begins at 8 a.m. The dedication ceremony will be at 11 a.m." The ribbon, visible across the Bay Area, will remain up from May 22 to June 19. more ›

The BAR (where one can now - at last! - comment on articles) says that HIV infections in San Francisco are now in "retreat." Over the last decade, the rate of new HIV cases has dwindled. Significantly so! Check it out: more ›

Today we find news about two local companies with HIV drugs that are receiving some fresh attention. more ›

Lightning-quick blogger Allan Hough of Mission Mission spotted this odd bit of AIDS cure awareness, or lack thereof. Namely, the new Tim Lincecum HIV/AIDS awareness PSAs on BART trains. The copy reads, "Until there’s a cure, Tim Lincecum throws strikes." more ›

Some last-minute screenings of David Wojnarowicz’s A Fire in My Belly have been scheduled on Friday night as part of a national protest of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's removal of the video from their Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture exhibit last week because it was declared “hate speech” by Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, incoming House Speaker John Boehner, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor. more ›

Today, Dec. 1, is World AIDS Day, a time set aside to collectively "take action to tackle HIV prejudice and to protect yourself and others from HIV transmission." more ›

The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and HIV & AIDS Legal Services Alliance (HALSA) are "demanding a full explanation for the unauthorized and illegal disclosures of confidential identifying information of approximately 5,000 HIV-positive Medi-Cal recipients." Beginning in 2007, the leaked information was sent to a third party service provider. more ›

After 35 years of providing mental health, substance abuse, and senior services to the LGBT community, HIV/AIDS patients and beyond, New Leaf announced it will close its doors by the middle of October. Why? Because it ran out of money. Everything from high operational costs, reportedly poor management, and a tenacious economic crisis are to blame. more ›

Sunday's 6.2-mile SF AIDS Walk pulled in more than $3 million. An estimated 25,000 participants showed up to help raise much-needed funds for HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and care. more ›

While AIDS humor will never fail to tickle the funny bones of lazy comedians and the BPR-swilling set, people are still dying from it. Yes, still. Right in your neighborhood too. The AIDS Memorial Quilt -- conceived by activist Cleve Jones as a way of remembering the dead -- now exists as one of our country's greatest contributions to folk art. Weighing an around 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world. more ›

In honor of World Aids Day yesterday, both SF City Hall and Coit Tower were illuminated in red. (Red being the signifying color of AIDS awareness.) more ›

Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day. In honor of the day, Coit Tower and City Hall will be turning red come nightfall. So, be sure to check them out on your way home tonight. To learn more about World AIDS Day, which looks suspiciously like a Gap and/or Nike ad, visit joingred.com. more ›

Conducted by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health, a new vaccine study has shown "modest" benefits in preventing HIV. Said results show that we could have a "safe and effective" preventive vaccine at some point in the near future. According to CBS 5/AP, "The vaccine—a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccines—cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in the world's largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers announced Thursday in Bangkok." more ›

The fine folks over at the Bay Area Reporter have word that local health officials will postpone "cutting AIDS contracts until mid-October in order to give the Board of Supervisors time to respond to a nearly $4 million cut in state funding." The nearly $60 million cuts to AIDS health care and HIV prevention services, which could prove disastrous, might even get restored. Somehow. While vacationing in Provincetown, San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty told the BAR, "'It should be a top priority, that is what those funds are for. I will start by asking for full restoration and see where we end up,'" going on to say, "'Neither myself, nor Supervisor David Campos, nor my other colleagues on the board will stand by and let agencies be decimated because of this state action.'" Read more about it here. more ›

While we'll wait to ask you all to throwout your condoms, we did just come across this interesting story about an American man who, it seems, "appears to have been cured of [the wily HIV virus] 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia." It seems doctors in Germany are claiming this major win. But! American Dr. Andrew Badley, the director of the HIV and immunology research lab at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., claims that said tests have probably not been extensive enough. Still: This news is always good to hear. We're certain to hear more about this alleged curing in the next few days. (CBS 5) more ›

(By Joe Kukura) more ›

We don't think there are many people who would consider politicians as containing much in the way of a sense of humor or any sense of irony, but in an awesome move of political satire, Republican Senator Libby Dole of North Carolina added an amendment to an AIDS bill now winding itself through the Senate that would name it after recently deceased senator Jesse Helms. The bill would give about $50 billion dollars in funding to fight AIDS and other diseases around the world and with it, a possible lifting of a travel ban on people with HIV. What makes the amendment such a great bit of political satire (right up there with the New Yorker cover) is that Helms was a long time racist and homophobe who said any number of things against gay people and people with AIDS and fought any and all funding to try and help people with it. In fact, it was Helms who created the travel ban on people with HIV Oh wait...this just in....it's not a bit of satire. Dole is completely serious about what she's doing. more ›

Well, this is disgusting. more ›

Gay men and uppers go together like peanut butter and chocolate. It's just the way God wanted it. But that hasn't stopped Joel Schumacher's "I Lost Me to Meth" campaign from saturating San Francisco, even though meth use is down as of last year, before the campaign began. more ›

And speaking of methamphetamines, this above always unleashes a big brouhaha in the bent community: to chastise or not to chastise zippy drug use. The most recent ad campaign--a four-month media blitz produced by the California Methamphetamine Initiative called "Me, Not Meth"--can been seen throughout the city, mainly in the Castro and SOMA arrondisments. And those ads you've seen on TV, featuring men sitting at their desks and talking into webcams? Part of the same ad and directed by Joel Schumacher. SF Aids Foundation has more info here. more ›

For better or for worse, spring is in the air. And with that comes the many AIDS Lifecycle Fundraisers that will litter the city for the next few months or so. While AIDS charities aren't necessarily our bag -- they come off as a tad too insufferably A-gay for us or for anyone who makes less than a six-figure income -- this one will surely make the gays squeal for a while. more ›

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